Hair treatment foil and method

ABSTRACT

A web roll of flexible foil used in the chemical treatment, of hair, the roil comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous band of pressure-sensitive adhesive deposited on the front face and parallel to and away from an edge of the roll, the back face comprising a continuous deposit of release coating, the release coating allowing ready, tear-free separation of the back face from the front face when the front face and the back face are in contact. Disclosed also are novel design foiling methods on the diagonal utilizing the improved foil.

I. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/102,501 by the same inventor filed on Dec. 11,2013, entitled Improved hair treatment foil and method, which claims priority to and incorporates in full by reference the specification and the drawings per the applicant's Provisional Patent Application No. 61/735,990 filed, on Dec. 11, 2012 and entitled “Material and material dispensing apparatus for separating hair into sections during treatment.”

II. TITLE

Improved hair treatment foil and method

III. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to flexible foil used in the chemical processing of hair and to methods used to increase the quality and efficiency of chemical, treatment of hair using foil. It is noted that the term chemical as used herein refers broadly to products including but not limited to color and/or bleach used in the treatment of hair.

Slippage of foil is a common problem encountered in chemical treatment of hair using foil. Slippage is undesirable because it causes bleeding of treatment chemicals into hair not selected for treatment with chemicals. Slippage and the bleeding it causes also means that colorists may avoid applying base color to hair not selected for treatment while the hair selected for chemical treatment is processing inside of the foil. Another problem is the difficulty in learning the cumbersome technique of foiling of hair that requires a two-handed technique and where colorists learning the technique may ask the customer or other assistant to hand foil sheets to the colorist.

Known art addresses the problem of slippage of foil with, relatively complex construction for the foil, foil system and resulting in more steps and complexity in using the foils. U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,353 to Russell discloses a hair strand holding strip cm the front face of the foil without or without an adhesive layer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,076 to Russell discloses an attachment anchor and hair positioning restraint preferably made of a Velcro® loop material where the attachment anchor and hair positioning restraint are bonded to the foil with adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,783 to Russell discloses a combination of a pinked leading edge and a hair surface anchor strip. U.S. Pat. No. 7,997,284 to Tanner discloses hair gripping hook strips. Publication 20040118424 to Russell discloses a rectangular strip of loop material that is used to anchor selected hair, the loop material attached to the foil by means of an adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,864 to Gallo complex construction because you need a sleeve for the comb, an adhesive strip and a backing with a smooth, relatively non-adhesive surface, purpose of the backing is to allow for ready, non-foil tearing separation of foil from a stack of foils. U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,741 to Minghenelli discloses a foil with a pressure-sensitive adhesive and teaches a cover to protect the adhesive. However, none of the known prior art discloses or anticipates the applicant's improved foil of very simple construction that is simple, effective and easy to learn to use because it involves the conventional methods.

IV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The applicant has developed an improved hair treatment foil that addresses some of the problems in the known art. The applicant's invention addresses the following problems: (1) The slippage and movement of foil during and after application of the chemical on the hair selected for treatment, (2) complexity of steps in use of known prior art foils that address the latter problem and (3) the complexity of construction and cost of known prior art foils that address the problem per (1) above

Thus the applicant's improved foil is simple in construction, uses known, simple manufacturing methods and offers a simple method of use that does not involve complex, time-adding steps such as removal of strips. Thus disclosed is a hair treatment foil comprising a deposit of pressure-sensitive natural paste adhesive disposed laterally across a. front face of the foil and away from and parallel to a leading edge of the foil and a release coating deposited on a back face of the foil. The purpose of the release coating on the back face of the foil is to allow ready, tear-free separation of adjoining sheets of foil. Thus the release coating allows for tear-free separation of the adhesive-bearing front face of one sheet of foil from the back face of an adjoining sheet of foil. The release coating also allows the foil to be presented as per one embodiment in a continuous web roll put-up. Per an alternative embodiment, the releasability (of the front, adhesive-bearing face, from the back face) may be accomplished with other known methods such as a texturing or embossing of the face of the foil that does not have the deposit of adhesive. The disclosed adhesive is adapted such that it sufficiently anchors the hair selected for treatment while also allowing the ready removal of the foil from the hair selected for treatment after the processing is complete.

The applicant's invention also addresses the problem that colorists who work with several clients at any one time may not recall the specific color used for a given client. Thus, the applicant's invention includes an improved foil per above further comprising a true color tint applied throughout the foil sheeting. The true color tint is herein defined as the color tint that closely approximates the actual color that the colorist applied to the hair and the actual color that the colorist is trying to achieve. Known tinted foil sheets do not use true color tint as herein defined.

V. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TEE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective of a roll of improved foil per a preferred embodiment of the foil roll of the disclosed invention

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the improved foil per the disclosed invention showing the construction

FIG. 3 is a front perspective of a roll of improved foil per an alternative embodiment of the foil roll of the disclosed invention

FIG. 4 is a front, perspective of a roll of improved foil per a preferred embodiment showing perforations at pre-defined lengths

FIG. 5 is another front, perspective of a roil of improved foil per the preferred embodiment of the foil roll of the disclosed invention

FIG. 6 is a front perspective of a sheet of improved foil per the disclosed invention

VI. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will he better understood with the aid of the disclosed drawings.

Shown in FIG. 1 is a front perspective of a roll of improved foil per the preferred embodiment of the disclosed invention. The foil roll I has a front face 2 and a back face treated with a release coating 5 and comprises a continuous deposit of pressure-sensitive adhesive 7 having a width of deposit W. The adhesive 7 is deposited at a distance D from one edge (the leading edge) 4 of the roll 1. It is understood that the term leading edge as used herein is the edge of the pre-cut sheet of improved foil that is placed on the scalp. Per FIG. 1, the adhesive 7 is deposited in a direction that is in the machine direction and is a cost effective way to manufacture the roll of improved foil.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the improved foil per the disclosed invention showing the construction of the foil sheeting. Thus shown is adhesive 7 deposited on a front face 2 of the foil sheet and a release coating 5 applied to the back side of the foil sheeting.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective of a roll of improved foil per an alternative embodiment of the foil roll of the disclosed invention where the adhesive 7 is deposited across the width of the roll.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective of a web roll of improved foil per a preferred embodiment showing perforations 10 at pre-defined lengths

FIG. 5 is a perspective of a roll with perforations per the alternative embodiment for the direction of deposit of the adhesive as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective of a. pre-cut, ready-to-use sheet of improved foil per the disclosed invention.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are known. The Applicant has experimented with pressure sensitive adhesives and has found an optimized formulation (see below) for a pressure sensitive adhesive for the disclosed improved foil. Thus, the disclosed improved foil has a simple construction comprising an optimized width of band of pressure sensitive adhesive applied at an optimized distance away from the leading edge of the foil that is placed on the scalp. That single band of pressure sensitive adhesive applied on one side of the foil, combined with a release coating applied to the side opposite the side with the adhesive, is all that is needed to achieve the goal of avoiding slippage of foil while using the conventional foiling techniques. This is a somewhat surprising result given the complexity of designs for foils in the known art for addressing the problem of foil slippage. That simple foil construction also has been found to facilitate design foiling methods (see below) over design foiling methods using conventional unimproved foil sheets. A representative, non-limiting description of a specification for a sample pressure sensitive adhesive successfully used, in the manufacture of prototype rolls of the disclosed improved foil is the following:

Name: PS-931 (B) pressure-sensitive adhesive Properties: pure acrylate copolymer emulsion, Viscosity 80-200 mPa.s (Pa [ska] seconds) pH value of 7.5-9.5 Solid content 55±1% Tack on the 12th ball (GB/T4852-2002) holding stick 24 hours (GB/T4851 -1998) Peel force 12N/25 mm (GB/T2792-1998) Operating temperature −15-90° C.; Appearance: white water (oil) emulsion. Non-toxic, non-flammable, without the help of suitable solvents or heat, just applying slight pressure to the adherent bonded firmly with adhesive, opened after the general without affecting the sticky surface.

The disclosed adhesive is safe for use in contact with the human scalp and skin, inert and non-reactive when in contact with conventional hair treatment chemicals, water soluble, and has sufficient tackiness to anchor strands of hair selected for chemical treatment. The adhesive also allows the foil to be removed from the scalp and to be repositioned as needed for more precise placement on the scalp before application of chemicals to the hair selected for treatment inside of the foil.

Per one embodiment of the disclosed invention a foil roll comprises perforations across the width of the roll at pre-defined intervals in the direction that is perpendicular to the machine direction. The perforations allows for tear separation of pre-defined lengths of improved foil sheeting that is ready for use.

An alternative put-up (not shown in drawings) for the disclosed improved foil is a note-pad type stack of sheets pre-cut to desired length and width. The release coating on the non-adhesive-bearing side of a foil sheet in the stack allows the ready removal, of a single sheet of improved foil without affecting the adhesive coating on the adjacent sheet in the stack in contact with it. Per yet another embodiment, the note-pad type stack of pre-cut improved foil sheets may be presented with the adhesive-bearing side up of the top (exposed) sheet of foil in the stack such that the colorist with one or more fingers dabs the adhesive of that exposed top sheet in the stack in order to pick up and separate a single sheet from the rest of the stack.

The width of the band of adhesive is preferably one inch (1″) but alternative widths may also be suitable for a given application. The width, of the band of adhesive is adapted to be sufficient to securely anchor a section of hair selected for the chemical treatment. The adhesive is applied at a distance D away from the edge of the roll of foil (the ‘leading edge’ of the foil that is placed on the scalp) and is preferably ½ inch away from that edge. The purpose of the application of the adhesive at a distance away from the edge of the foil sheet is twofold. As shown, in FIG. 1 it allows for more trouble-free application of the adhesive to the web roll of foil. Additionally, the distance D allows for folding of the sheet of foil during placement of the foil on the scalp. Per the applicant's improved foil, the fold and the adhesive cooperate to create a most secure attachment of the foil to the scalp and a securement that, minimizes slippage of the foil during application of the chemical to the hair selected for treatment, during processing of the hair selected for treatment and during the checks (opening up the folded foil containing hair treated with chemical) the colorist makes on the progress of treatment.

1. The method used in the application of the band of adhesive onto the foil is any one of known methods for the continuous application of pressure sensitive adhesives to the surface of a web roll. The thickness of the foil per the disclosed improved foil is a standard thickness for foil used in chemical treatment of hair. A non-limiting and preferred range for the thickness of the foil is in the range of 12-14 microns. Disclosed is a web roll of flexible foil sheeting used in the chemical treatment of hair, the sheeting comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous band of pressure-sensitive adhesive deposited, in a machine direction, on the front face and parallel to and a distance away from a leading edge of the sheeting, the back face comprising a continuous deposit of release coating, the release coating allowing ready, tear-free separation of the back face from the front face when the front face and the back face are in contact, the leading edge defined as the edge that a colorist folds back and places on a scalp when a desired size section of sheeting is torn from the web roll in use,

The following are steps used per one method of use of the improved foil of the disclosed invention: (1) With a comb section hair and weave hair to select hair to be treated, (2) pick up one sheet of improved foil, fold foil sheet at the top edge of the adhesive coating (edge closest to the leading edge of the sheet) and with comb inside of the fold slip the sheet of foil snugly against the scalp with the adhesive side touching the scalp (or alternatively, per preference of the stylist, the adhesive side up), (3) place the hair selected for treatment on top of the foil sheet, (4) apply the chemical to the hair selected for treatment and (5) fold foil to enclose the hear treated with chemical. The foil improved with the adhesive per the disclosed invention affords sufficient tackiness to securedly yet releasably attach foil to the scalp. Furthermore, the applicant has found that the combination of the fold at the leading edge of the foil sheet above the adhesive and the adhesive coating itself cooperate to achieve a Mali level of securement for the foil.

Thus disclosed is a method for chemical treatment of hair comprising the steps of

a. Sectioning hair and weaving with a comb to select hair for chemical treatment, b. Picking up a single sheet of foil, the sheet comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous deposit of a band of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the front face of the sheet and a distance away from and parallel to a leading edge of the sheet, a release coating on the back face of the sheet. c. Folding the sheet of foil at a top edge of the band of adhesive closes to the leading edge of the sheet; d. With the comb tucked inside of the fold placing the sheet on the scalp, e. Placing the hair selected for treatment on top of the sheet, f. Applying chemical to the hair selected for treatment and g. Folding the sheet so to enclose the hair treated with the chemical

One of the problem areas in using foil for chemical treatment of hair is in the bang area and the nape of the neck of the client. The disclosed inventive foil addresses the problems in treatment of hair in the problem areas because of its simplicity of construction and use and because of the secure way it anchors hair selected for treatment. Per the preferred embodiment of the disclosed improved foil, the leading edge of the foil is folded back, one inch (i.e., up to the adhesive) and the fold combined with the adhesive provide for improved securement of the foil to the hair or scalp. This improved securement also allows for ease of use in design foiling techniques (discussed below) and diagonal foiling. For all of these reasons the applicant's improved foil has been found to be helpful in facilitating training of new colorists in the methods for chemical treatment of hair.

The design for the improved foil allows for both an underhanded and conventional foiling technique, depending upon how/where the improved foil with adhesive is placed on the scalp, whether underneath the hair selected for treatment or on top of hair selected for treatment, whether toward the scalp or away from the scalp.

Because the disclosed method minimizes slippage of the foil containing hair selected for a first chemical treatment, the user may choose to apply base color to hair not selected for the first chemical treatment in the foil without fear of bleed between the base color and the chemical in the foil.

The disclosed improved hair treatment foil is especially suitable for design foiling and in teaching design foiling. In design foiling, the disclosed improved foil functions as an effective, simply-constructed protector or blocker (masker) for sections of hair not selected for treatment where sections are diagonal sections. Design foiling involves diagonal sectioning. Known conventional methods for foiling involve foiling horizontally up and down (and not diagonally) on the scalp because the natural curvature of the head means the colorist cannot readily and consistently place conventional, known foils close to the scalp. Due to the natural curvature of the head, placing prior art foils on the diagonal is cumbersome due in part to slippage of the foils. Due to the nature of the disclosed improved foil, placing foils on the diagonal is easier as the fold at the leading edge and the adhesive make for more secure attachment of the foil to the scalp. Design foiling utilizing the disclosed improved foil to achieve a so-called Diamond Pattern may be performed as follows: (1) Section off a substantially diamond-shaped section of hair around two inches from the crown of the head to the front line between the eyes. (2) Clip the selected diamond section away from the hair to be treated. (3) Place the improved foil with the adhesive side of the foil facing toward the scalp on all of the remaining hair outside of the diamond section in order to isolate the non-treated hair, (4) Take the selected diamond section and foil diagonally, taking small sections of hair in the diagonal section and continuing in a diamond pattern until you reach all sides of the pattern and end in the middle of the pattern, where the foil will be placed in a substantially vertical orientation. Thus the colorist will work from the center of both sides of the diamond section and meet in the middle and then repeat the foiling technique on the right side, again ending in the middle section.

Thanks to the ease of use and effectiveness of diagonal placement of the disclosed improved foil, the applicant has created a Beehive Pattern in design foiling that uses two color sections instead of the five color sections used in the traditional design foiling methods. The Beehive is preferably accomplished using the disclosed improved foil per an embodiment of the disclosed web roll of improved foil, one where the colorist may freeform tear off a progressively larger sized sheet as he/she selects hair for treatment. Per the traditional design pattern, the colorist starts at the top of the ear in a diagonal pattern similar to the Diamond Pattern described above. The traditional pattern is achieved with five coloring sections of hair from center of the crown to the nape and from ear to ear, meaning two sections in the back (from the bottom left side of nape of the neck, from the bottom right side of the nape of the neck), two sections in the front (from the top of left ear to the top of the hair section, from the top of right ear to the top of the hair section) and one coloring section on top. Because the chemical processing time for the bottom sections is longer (the bottom sections receive chemical earlier than the remaining sections), the colorist rinses the chemical from the bottom sections, then waits for a period of time before rinsing chemicals from the remaining sections. This procedure requires extra attention and time on the part of the colorist. The Beehive Pattern created by the applicant uses two (instead of five) color sections and is performed as follows: (1) Select an approximate one inch section of hair just over the top of the ear (2) over the selected section of hair place an approximate one-inch sheet of improved foil, the adhesive side facing the scalp and (3) iteratively section off additional sections of hair working toward the crown of the head and applying a progressively larger sheet of improved foil underneath the selected section, the adhesive side of the foil facing towards the scalp (4) repeat steps 1 through 3 on the opposite side of the head.

The disclosed improved foil has also been shown to deliver improved results with a hair color treatment technique known as balayage. Balayage is used to highlight, hair to achieve more natural highlight results and for a longer period of time with lighter highlights at hair ends or tips and darker color at the roots. Balayage typically requires the use of a stronger developer called 40 Volume, instead of the 20 Volume or 30 Volume Developer typically used in other hair color treatment methods. The improved balayage method utilizing the disclosed improved foil comprises the following steps: (1) Section hair, (2) Select a first section of hair for treatment, (3) Folding back a leading edge of an improved first foil at approximately a top edge of adhesive, place the first sheet of improved foil under the first section of hair for treatment with the adhesive side up and away from the scalp, (4) Apply a treatment chemical to a surface of the section of hair selected for treatment from approximately mid-hair shaft to hair ends without folding the first sheet, (4) Place a second sheet of improved foil over the first sheet such that the adhesive on the first sheet and the adhesive on the second sheet face each other and touch or kiss each other creating a foil sandwich and (5) Repeat steps 2 through 5 until a desired number of hair sections has been treated. Thus, in a balayage, the disclosed improved foil allows the color-treated hair to be covered (i.e., via the foil sandwich), meaning the treatment chemical, is not exposed to the air as it is in known balayage methods and so 20 Volume Developer may be used instead of the 40 Volume Developer resulting in less potential for hair damage.

The disclosed improved foil also reduces the number of foil sheets used in design foiling. A typical usage using the known foil sheet that is usually 10 inches by 5 inches in size is an equivalent 20 feet length of sheeting. Design foiling using the disclosed improved foil typically requires approximately four (4) feet of length of sheeting.

The disclosed improved foil allows colorists to create new designs because of the ease of use of the improved foil and the speed of foiling possible with the improved foil.

Additionally, it is noted, that per colonist's preference, the adhesive side of the disclosed foil may be placed facing the scalp or away from the scalp. The diagonal section foil might for example be placed with the adhesive side facing the scalp due to the angle of foiling. With a vertical orientation of the foil, the adhesive may face away from the scalp. Design foiling may include vertical, horizontal or diagonal placement of the disclosed improved foil inside of a single diamond section depending upon the colorist's preferences. 

I claim:
 1. A web roll of flexible foil sheeting used in the chemical treatment of hair, the sheeting comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous band of pressure-sensitive adhesive deposited, in a machine direction, on the front face and parallel to and a distance away from a leading edge of the sheeting, the back face comprising a continuous deposit of release coating, the release coating allowing ready, tear-free separation of the back face from the front lace when the front face and the back face are in contact, the leading edge defined as the edge that a colorist folds back and places on a scalp when a desired size section of sheeting is torn from the web roll in use.
 2. The roll per claim 1 further comprising a plurality of spaced apart perforations such that tearing at each perforation presents a section of sheeting that is a foil sheet of a specified size, each foil sheet comprising a band of adhesive at a distance away from and parallel to a leading edge of the sheet the leading edge folded back and placed on the scalp during a chemical treatment of hair.
 3. The web roll per claim 1 wherein the distance equals one inch.
 4. The roll per claim 1 wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied in a direction parallel to a machine direction during manufacturing of the roll.
 5. The roll per claim 1 wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied in a direction that. is perpendicular to a machine direction during manufacturing of the roll.
 6. The roll per claim 1 wherein the roll is treated with a tint that is true color.
 7. In a chemical treatment for hair, a method for performing balayage comprising the following steps; a. Bringing to a treatment work area a plurality of sheets of foil each sheet comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous deposit of a hand of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the front face of the sheet and a distance away from and parallel to a leading edge of the sheet, a release coating on the back lace of the sheet, b. Sectioning hair in preparation for balayage, c. Selecting a first section of hair for chemical treatment, d. Picking up a first sheet of foil and folding back on its leading edge at approximately a top edge of adhesive, place the first sheet of improved foil under the first section of hair with the adhesive side up and away from the scalp, e. Applying a treatment chemical to a surface of the first section of hair selected for treatment from approximately mid-hair shaft to hair ends, without folding the first sheet, where the treatment chemical is not 40 Volume Developer, f. Placing a second sheet of improved foil over the first sheet such that the adhesive on the first sheet and the adhesive on the second sheet face each other and touch or kiss each other creating a foil sandwich and g. Iteratively repeat steps b through f above until a desired number of hair sections has been treated.
 8. A method for design foiling of a head of hair comprising the following steps: a. Bringing to a treatment work area a web roll of foil sheeting, the sheeting comprising a front face and a back face, a continuous deposit of a band of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the front face and a distance away from and parallel to a leading edge of the sheeting, a release coating on the back face, b. Selecting an approximate one inch first section of hair just over the top of a first ear, c. Tearing off an approximate one inch section of sheeting from the web roll and placing it over the first section of hair, the adhesive side facing the scalp and d. Iteratively sectioning off additional sections of hair, foiling and treating the hair working toward the crown of the head and applying, underneath each additional section of hair, adhesive side facing the scalp, a progressively larger section of sheeting tom from the web roll and e. Repeating steps b through cl above on the opposite side of the head. 